SANKAT MOCHAN TEMPLE

” Shri Sankat Mochan”  temple is situated at a distance of about 5 K.m from Shimla and is located at Taradevi  on the Kalka- Shimla National Highway.  This temple is very easily approachable and  is one of the most sought after site to be visited not only by the devotees  and pilgrims but also by the tourists of all age groups visiting Shimla, the Hill capital of  Himachal Pradesh.

The history of the temple dates back to the late 1950’s, when Baba Neeb Karori Ji Maharaj visited this tranquil and  serene site surrounded by lush green  forests , emerald meadows, the magestic lofty mountains in the background which offered a very soothing and meditative atmosphere stirring the soul to enjoy the bliss of nature, a gift from god to all of  us. Baba Neeb Karori Ji Maharaj stayed here in a hut for about ten days and being deeply fascinated  and charmed with the  place expressed his keen desire for a Hanuman temple to be constructed at this very location .Baba’s devotees  the than Lt. Governor of Himachal Pradesh late Raja Bajrang Bahadur Bhadari and Sh. Bhagwan Sahai                    shouldered    the   responsibility to fulfill their Guru’s desire and began with the construction of the temple in the year 1962 and finally it was consecrated on the 21^st of June,1966, What began as a small temple, by god’s grace and blessings has acquired great dimensions and today the entire temple complex is sprawled  over 18.8 bighas of land owned by Shri Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir.  

At present the temple complex facilitates the people to worship and pay their obeisance to different deities as the complex comprises of Lord Rama and Hanuman temple, Lord Shiva Temple , Navgrah Temple ,Baba Neeb Karori Ji Maharaj Temple and a beautiful Ganesha Temple portraying  the architecture of the south.  

The Temple complex also includes a three storey building  which is partly used as the “Langer Hall” where on every Sunday all the visitors are served with prashad / Langer Below the langer hall are the “Marriage Halls”  which are rented out on nominal charges  to  the parties who intend to ceremonize marriages here and it is a  regular feature of the temple  throughout the year.  The other half of this building houses the residential area given to the priests  and  the domestic  staff working in the temple.  For  the convenience and facilities of the visitors, the temple offers a ‘Prasad’ shop and also has a Govt Ayurvedic Dispensary.  The complex also has provision  of thirty neat and clean well maintained toilets.  

TARA DEVI TEMPLE

“ Ma Bhagwati Tara Devi” temple is located on Tarav Parvat in the western side of shimla Town  about 15 Km from Shimla situated by the side of Kalka- Shimla National Highway near Shoghi.  The road meandering uphill through the sweet smelling  pine forests and lush green meadows with the cool gentle  breeze touching one softly infusing a freshness  and  vigor  in the devotees, pilgrims and tourists visiting this holy shrine.  The location of the temple on the Hill top makes it appear that the goddess Ma Tara  Devi seems to keep everyone  under the protective gaze ,showering  innumerable  blessings on her worshippers.  The picturesque view from the temple is indeed breath taking and captivating with the superb  panorama of the lofty  and majestic  forested mountains around, which offers a calm peaceful and tranquil countryside,  a site that has a soothing  and rejuvenating effect, being away from the din, pollution and the taxing  effect of a fast urban life style.

The history of this temple dates back to about 250 years  when this temple was built here.  There is a belief that the goddess Tara was brought  to Himachal Pradesh all the  way from the eastern state  of Bengal .  Hundreds of years ago a king from the Sen Dynasty  visited this area.  This king had brought  his family deity  in the form of a small gold Idol encased in a  locket  which he always wore around his upper arm.  For many years the idol remained encased   but in the 96^th generation of sen dynasty , Raja Bhupendra Sen one day had an unusual  experience while  hunting in the  dense forest  of Juggar , near by the present  temple, where he had a vision  of his holy family deity goddess  :”Ma Tara” along with her Dwarpal  Bhairav and Hanuman Ji , who expressed her  keen desire to be unveiled before the  people. The Raja immediately  donated 50 bighas of land on the name  of  Ma Tara and got constructed a temple there, in which a wooden  idol of the  Goddess was installed  in accordance  with Vaishnav  traditions . Later on  Raja Balbir Sen of the same dynasty  had a dream in which  the Goddess expressed  her desire to be installed  on the hill top of Tarav Parvat.  The Raja on the advise of one of his pandits  named Bhawani Dutt got a beautiful Idol  prepared out of ‘Ashtadhatu’ from one Gusanwu artisan  at his capital Junga and carried  it over an  Elephant  named ‘Shankar’ and had it  installed in the Vikrami  era, 1825 on the Hill Top of Tarav Parvat , where it stands  in all majesty and  grandeur even today.  The Sen dynasty  of the erstwhile  Keonthal State  till date is  carrying on with  the age old tradition  of worshipping their  family deity   Ma Tara on Ashtami during Shardiya Navratras each year when a fair is also held in the same day in the temple complex.  The wrestling  is an age old tradition of this fair every year.  

JAKHOO TEMPLE

This temple of lord Hanumanji  is situated at the height of about 8500 ft. in the east of historical ridge ground  in Shimla city. This temple is very easily approachable and  is one of the most sought after site to be visited not only by the devotees  and pilgrims but also by the tourists of all age groups visiting Shimla, the Hill capital of  Himachal Pradesh.

According to mythology , during the battle between lord Rama and Ravana   at Lanka ,Lakshmana the younger brother of lord Rama was injured from an arrow from Meghnad and turned senseless. In order to save his life ,when lord Hanuman  was moving towards Himalaya to get sanjeewani herb , all  of a sudden he saw Yaaku sage on Jakhu mountain in penance .This place was named Jakhu , after the same sage .In order to gather more details about sanjeewani , lord Hanuman landed here . As a result of which Jakhu mountain which earlier was much  higher ,half sunk into earth  .After getting all the clarifications about the herb , lord Hanuman started his journey towards mount Dron . However , his friends accompanying him  felt asleep  here due to  long distant tiring journey . When they woke up , all of them were sad on not finding lord Hanuman with them . All of them  decided to stay here .Their successors can be seen roaming in this area even today . Lord Hanuman had even promised the sage Yaaku to meet him during his back journey .However due to shortage of time as a result of wickedness of Kaalnemi , he had to return back to Lanka via shorter route .The waiting sage  got very sad .At the same time lord Hanuman appeared before the sage and told him the reason for not keeping his promise .When lord Hanuman disappeared , an idol of lord Hanuman appeared by itself and is present in the temple till date . This temple of lord Hanuman was constructed by the Yaaku sage in remembrance of lord Hanuman.